Area teams are ready to do battle on the diamond this weekend as state baseball and softball tournaments begin. Clarksville, Pottsville, Atkins and Dardanelle will compete in softball to earn the right to be called state champions, while Dover will vie for a state title in baseball.

Dardanelle vs. Ashdown

Dardanelle recently finished third in the North Region after beating 4AAAA-rival Clarksville. The Lady Sand Lizards will face Ashdown this weekend as they hope to bring home a state title.

"The first game, we'll probably have the nervous jitters the first few innings," Dardanelle coach Chris Cope said. "Then we'll see if we can come out and play. When you make it to the state tournament, all the teams are hard to beat. Everybody has earned their way to state."

Cope said he knows while the Lady Sand Lizards have already defeated Clarksville once this season, the path to a state title may lead to another meeting with the Lady Panthers.

"Clarksville around this time last year was peaking at the right time and made it all the way to the finals," Cope said. "So I mean they have just a good as chance as any."

Before Cope and the Lady Lizards can worry about Clarksville's Lady Panthers, they have to focus on the Lady Panthers of Ashdown.

"Hopefully our game will be good, right off the bat playing Ashdown," Cope said. "They're all interesting matchup's because everybody's playing teams that they haven't played before from different regions. So it's kind of hard to say which one's are the tougher teams or not.

"I hope we can hit our peak and just come out and play hard. The first game is always the toughest one, because if you lose one now, the season is over with."

Atkins vs. Charleston

Atkins recently finished third in the Class AAA Region 2 tournament and will face Charleston at 1:45 p.m. today in Sherwood. The Lady Red Devils also placed fifth in the Van Buren tournament earlier this year.

"Defensively I think we are just as good as any team in the state," Atkins coach Tracey Brown said. "Chelsea Riley's average is in the low 60's. Not many teams can say that.

"I think our defense will work so well, that if we can manufacture a few runs then we'll be able to compete with anybody."

Atkins has beat Pottsville twice out of three times, but Pottsville defeated the Lady Red Devils in the regional tournament and took home the regional title.

"We definitely feel like if we [Pottsville and Atkins] win out that we could see them in the semifinals," Brown said. "Both teams are very good and Pottsville will definitely be a challenge for us."

Brown said she believes that the Elkins Lady Elks are one of the top teams in the state.

"We know Elkins is a very strong team. We expect to see them in the finals," Brown said. "We're going to have to play our game to win."

After advancing past the district tournament and regional tournament, Brown said she is fully aware the competition gets tougher the longer the season goes.

"The competition at this point is definitely getting harder," Brown said. "At this point, we're playing the best of the best. The girls have their minds on winning state."

Pottsville looking

to continue success

The Lady Apaches, after winning the Class AAA Region 2 title, will play Green Forest at 3:30 p.m. today at Sherwood.

"We've been playing well these last couple of weeks, but when we get down to this point, it's just a matter of doing what you've been doing to get here," Pottsville coach Matt Lee said. "You get to this point, they're all good. You've got to be good to get there [the state tournament] then you have to have a few breaks along the way."

Lee said he agrees with Brown in the fact Elkins is swinging a hot bat at this point in the season. But Lee said he also believes there are two pretty good softball teams in Pope County and only six miles separate the two campuses.

"That would be pretty sweet to meet one of the county team's in the semis," Lee said in response to Brown's prediction about meeting Pottsville for the semifinals. "I think Elkins is the favorite down in the lower bracket, even though they are coming in as a No. 3 seed. I think the Horatio versus Elkins matchup in the first round is going to be real important."

While the Lady Apaches have had a successful season, Lee knows many teams are setting at home at this point in the season.

"There's a lot of teams that would love to trade places with us right now. A lot of players don't get the opportunity that they're getting," Lee said. "We've been fortunate to be to the regionals every year since we started softball. We just need to go and make the best of it that we can. You can't look past anybody at this point, that's for sure."

Clarksville vs. Stuttgart

The Lady Panthers will host Stuttgart at 4 p.m. today as Clarksville hosts the AAAA state softball tournament. While Clarksville will have the home-field advantage, coach Bob Mooney said he knows his team still has to play the games.

"You never know when you get here to the state tournament," Mooney said. "Stuttgart will be a pretty good team and we'll have our work cut out for us just like any other team."

Looking at other teams in the bracket and who the Lady Panthers might face, Mooney was confident the North Region would do well.

"Dardanelle plays Ashdown, that should be a good game," Mooney said. "If we advanced, we would play Nashville."

The North Region should have a pretty good showing and is expected to do well, Mooney said.

"I think our region is pretty good and I expect them to do well in this state tournament," Mooney said. "We enjoy hosting the tournament. Everybody is good, but of course we would like to come out on top."

Dover baseball

gets ready for state

Dover's baseball team took a loss after being down 11-5 to Ozark when the game was called for rain earlier this week. Coach Jason McGhee decided the team would take the loss because of "travel reasons."

"The kids were wore out and regardless of the win or loss, we are in the state tournament," McGhee said. "It really doesn't affect us. We're in the state tournament, and you have to take it one game at a time."

The Pirates will play Rivercrest at 4 p.m. today at J.A. Fair in Little Rock.